Microsoft sees China, India competition in future

27th Oct 11:09

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said on Wednesday the software giant faced growing competition from companies in China and India but, for now, the strength in those countries lies in software services.

Gates, on his first visit to Israel, said Israeli companies would also confront increased competition from China and India.

"There will be competitors for Microsoft and for Israeli companies coming out of those countries although today the success, particularly in India, has mostly been in the software services area, outsourcing work, doing call centers and things like that," Gates told a news conference.

In contrast, Israel, along with the United States, is focused on inventing new, patented products and software, he said.

"India and China will try and be in those product areas as well, but so far it's mostly been in the service-oriented activities," he said.

Gates said the technology drive in China and India would expand the global customer base for technology products.